Ford Focus RS

We’ve waited long enough for the new RS, and we’re pleased to say that now we’ve driven it, the wait was worth every minute. Now with all-wheel drive for the first time since the Escort Cosworth, the new RS is quite simply brilliant.

With incredibly responsive steering, a strong engine, playful chassis and of course that ‘Drift Mode’, the Focus RS is not only our favourite hot hatch, it’s TG’s Car of The Year.

Volkswagen Golf R

Previous VW Golf Rs have been a bit leaden. This one isn’t. In fact it’s one of the best hot Golfs ever: sharp, direct, fast and fun. An Impreza from Germany, only you don’t have to be seen driving a Subaru. It was our favourite hot hatch until the Focus RS came along, and remains high up on our list. Few cars are as talented when it comes down to swapping between effortless commuter and deft B-road entertainer.

Honda Civic Type-R

The newly turbocharged Civic Type-R might be the most blistering of all hot hatches - at least it feels it, even if its 306bhp is some way down on the Focus RS’s 345. It’s a beast, though, this thing. It feels more like a little BTCC car on road than you might think - all flat and wide and uncompromising. Then there’s the look, which gets you the undivided attention of a certain kind of fellow. Actually, we’re not sure that last bit is such a good thing…

Renaultsport Megane 275 Cup-S

Take your driving seriously? Attend trackdays? Post on forums? Then buy a Megane, the hatch of choice for hardcore geeks. Price-cut Cup-S model is a bargain, even when you add the optional Akrapovič exhaust, Öhlins dampers and sticky Michelins. It may not have a drift button, but it’s the purest hot hatch to drive quickly on a circuit.

Seat Leon Cupra 290

Like the Golf R, the Leon took us rather by surprise. Very effective differential, crisp, strong engine and plenty of cornering nous. Quite discreet too, but only if you avoid the orange wheels. It might’ve settled higher up the list were the interior a bit nicer and the price a bit lower. It’s practically as expensive as the top two, but with half the driven wheels and much less power. You wouldn’t feel hard done by if you had one, though.

BBC Worldwide is a commercial company that is owned by the BBC (and just the BBC). No money from the licence fee was used to create this website. The profits we make from it go back to BBC programme-makers to help fund great new BBC programmes.